Identifying Figurative Language

The students will read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. As they read the book, they will write down different examples of figurative language such as similes, metaphors, and personification.

Students need a copy of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Before you begin having them read their book, you will need to explain the meaning of the figurative language they locate in the book.

Simile - Similes are phrases that compare two objects such as "her smile is like the dawn of a new day." Similes use the words like or as when comparing two objects.

Metaphor - Metaphors also compare two objects, but the phrase doesn't use the words like or as.

Personification - Writers use personification when they want to use an inanimate object or an animal as a human being. The object or animal takes on the characteristics of humans.

After you have explained about figurative language and gave the students examples of the various types, the students are ready to read the book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. As they read the book, they need to write down the examples of similes, metaphors, and personification they located and the pages where they found the different types of figurative language. By writing down the pages, they can look back to those pages and make sure they wrote the examples correctly.

You can grade them on how well they wrote their examples of figurative language and if the examples they used were accurately. You can also check for correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure